The choices of ways to celebrate my slow march towards death were vast and alluring: an elephant parade down Jefferson Street, a private concert to be held at my apartment, featuring Jenny Lewis, Sufjan Stevens and others, a guest appearance on the Daily Show, a sophisticated fireworks display on Lake Ponchatrain, sponsored by The Society for Awesome People Recently Relocated to the South (SAPRRS).
But after considering the negative aspects of these possibilties--the tedious nature of air travel to New York, the amount of elephant poop someone would have to clean up, the noise complaints the concert would cause, the banality of fireworks, Erin and I decided on an Indian food extravaganza showcasing my spice rack, which, along with my cooking, has improved vastly since my move to Lafayette. Cardamon, cloves, curry powder, tumeric, cumin, garam masala, madras curry, whole nutmeg. Come on, folks. How can you deny the awesomness of a rack like that? Don't ya just want to just reach out and...
Okay, I don't really keep my spices in a rack persay. It's more a cabinet. But i've had just enough red wine such that rack jokes are funny.
Our plan seemed especially apropo considering there is no decent Indian food to be found within 40 miles of my city. Thus, over the course of several hours, Erin and I created what one 2nd year graduate student described as the best food he's ever had in Lafayette. Now the recipes behind the well-spiced magic:
We began with Sara Moulton's beautiful and very simple samosas (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27198,00.html). Don't be intimidated by the geometry of folding the dough. You're just making lots of small cones, filling them, and closing them up. It's quite relaxing, actually. Just make sure to squeeze the edges closed tightly, wetting your fingertips in a cup of water for each one.
Then there was this recipe for Sweet Potato Breadfrom my newly purchased Sunday's at Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook (1990 edition):
3/4 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 tbs. oil or melted ghee
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup hole wheat flour
1-1.5 cups unbleached white flour
oil for deep frying pooris, or oil or melted ghee for cooking parathas
Combine sweet potatoes, oil, salt and cinnamon nd mix well. Stir in the whole wheat flour and enough white flour to form a workable dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-1- minutes, adding at least one cup of the white flour as you go. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 min.
Erin made the dough into 12 pooris, which are basically dense, sweet little balls of dough fried in 2 inches of vegetable oil until "puffed and golden", about 15-20 seconds. Press the pooris down as they rise to the surface of the oil.
Next time I might try turning the dough into parathas, which seem ideal for scooping up extra curry when you run out of rice. To make parathas: "cut the dough into quarters...cut each quarter in half...roll in your hadns to form eight balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6-inch circle. Brush teh top of each circle with oil or melted ghee and fold in half. Sprinkle lightly with flour and roll out to form a six in triangle. Repeat with the remaining balls.
...Heat a heavy fryin gpan or griddle on medium for 2 or 3 minutes. PLace a paratha in thep an and cook for about 2 minutes or until brown flecks appear on the bottom of the bread. Brush the top with oil or ghee, and turn over. Cook for approximately one minute more and then remove it from the pan. Parathas may be kept warm in teh oven until all of them are cooked."
Next came two beautiful vegetarian dishes; Dal (ie; anything legume based in Indian cooking) with Tomato and Spinach, and an http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35405,00.html?rsrc=search, both also from Linda Dickinson's India section of the Moosewood Cookbook. Both dishes were prepared essentially prepared by the lovely Erin, so while I can't comment much on process, I can say both were delicious and pass on the recipes to you:
Dal:
1 1/2 cups red or brown lentils, yellow or green split peas or split, hulled mung beans
4 cups water
2 dried chilis (we used red pepper flakes instead)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
--
2 tbs. ghee or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger (make sure to use fresh...this really brought the dish together)
1 tbs. lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
4 cups spinach
1 cup chopped tomatos
Wash the lentils, peas or beans in severla changes of codl water. In a medium pot, cover them with te water and add te whole dried chiles, turmeric, and salt,. Bring to a boil, reduce th eheat and simmer, stirring often, until very tender This will take about 30 minutes for red lentils, 45 minutes for peas, or an hour or more for mung beans. It may be necessary to add more water to prevent sticking, but only 1/2 cup at a time, because the final consistency should be fairly thick. Use a heat diffuser if necessary.
When lentils are almost cooked, heat th eghee or oil in a small pan, add the cumin seeds, and cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Stir in the onions and ginger adn cook utnil the onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatos and spinach and cook for 5 minutes more.
When the lentils are tender, remove and discard teh hot peppers. Stir in the onion mixture, lemon juice, garam masala and salt to taste. Serve, passing additioanl garam masala to sprinkle on top, if desired.
The recipe for Eggplant, Spinach, and Tomato Curry has already been posted here:
http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/8439/
Finally, I made Nigella Lawson's Mughlai Chicken. The complex layering of flavors here made this dish transcendent. The color was beautiful. It smelled amazing. And it was just as decadent with half-n-half instead of heavy cream.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35405,00.html?rsrc=search
At said birthday party a friend gave me Madhu Gadia's New Indian Home Cooking. Look for future posts on the lovely recipes to be found there, including Sweet and Sour Winter Squash. And remember, getting older should be about cooking better. Forget calls for increased maturity, self-knowledge, and success. Instead, ala Michael Jackson, take a look at your spice rack and make that change. Then, if you actually do accomplish something, you can celebrate it in an appropriatly tasty manner. Because really that's what's important.
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